PETMAKER 3-Layer Dog Grass Pad with Tray, Medium

For reference, I bought this for Reese, my five month old six lb. Chorkie and placed it on my back patio. Previously, we have been taking her out the front door to the grass on a leash. This is so we can just let her out on the gated patio and not have suit up to go out in the cold at all hours of the night. By the way, my puppy seems to be ultra smart. She learns very quickly and is eager to please. She already has us well trained, lol. Day one: I put some turds on it and when she went out she put her front paws on the mat and peed on the concrete. I soaked up the pee with a paper towel and squeezed it on the mat (wearing rubber gloves) and gave her praise. I later discovered you can just pick up the faux grass and pat the puddle with it, much easier! She later pooped on the patio and I moved the poop to the mat again praising her for going potty on the patio (and not inside the house). Day two: She peed on the mat for Daddy, but every time Mommy lets her out she holds her pee and will only poop on the patio, but not on the faux grass. I removed the old piles of poop that I placed on the grass, just in case she needs the space. Remember that prior to this, she only went potty out the front door on a leash in the grass. So this is a totally new and probably confusing concept to her, as this is the back door, no leash, Mommy and Daddy are inside and the grass is fake. Day three: She peed and pooped on the patio, but not on the faux grass. We are at this point pretty happy that she is confident going on the patio. We can hose it off. One thing to note is that she saw me cleaning up the poop and spraying the pee and washing it. I think this confused her, because she has seen me in the past clean her accidents inside the house, after having scolded her. So I think when she saw me cleaning her patio messes she might have thought she did bad. I would suggest cleaning it when they are not looking. Day four: No pee pees on the faux grass yet. Maybe when Daddy gets home he can get her to go. Maybe I give up too quickly. I take her out the front door if she doesn't perform out back. I'm just afraid that if I don't, she will go in my new house and I love that new house smell. Day five: She is pottying on the back porch, one time next to the mat, but most of the time nowhere close to it. We have a new problem, for some reason, she now squats and pees on the indoor house carpet right in front of me when I ask her to roll over! I have no idea where this came from, as she absolutely loved rolling over for treats. I think all of this has just really confused her. I'm going to go on YouTube and see if there are any videos showing tips on how to get them to pee on a pad. (No tips found). Day six: Today we got a poop that landed on the pad. She backed up to it and did her business. Technically only half the turd landed on the grass, but it was time for a poopy party! We celebrated her accomplishment. The rest of the day, she did her business on the back patio, but not on the grass. Thankfully she is back to rolling over and not thinking it means to squat and pee. We just make sure to let her out to potty before doing inside tricks (which she loves doing). Day seven: We got a pee on the faux grass! Just one, but we are seeing progress, so we are happy. We let her out onto the porch and watch from inside, no coaxing or trying to direct her to the pad (it's too cold outside for that). So we are hoping that she will gravitate to that pad on her own. Day eight: The last five peepee's have been on the pad!!!! The poopoo's are landing closer too. Day nine: I'm so please to report that Reesie now runs straight for the faux grass to do ALL of her peepee!!! Her poos are still landing elsewhere on the porch, but I'm okay with that because they are easier to clean, especially now that it's 15 degrees outside (think poop sickles)! Let me reiterate that I have done no coaxing toward the grass, I just patted her initial puddles with the pad to get her smell on it. I then gave treats and praise for going outside, with extra praise for going on the pad. I am removing the poo now from the patio and placing the freshest batch on the pad. We may still buy a second one, for extra space and to take on vacation with us (we stay at beach condos/houses and would probably transport it in the bed of our truck as I'm sure it smells like pee). I saw a video on YouTube where they placed two just outside the door and gated the area to include only the pads, so the puppy had no choice but to go on the pad! Excellent idea! I'm upgrading my review to five stars!!!!! This thing is SO WORTH IT!!!! Especially now that it's 15 degrees outside!!!! I will update when the poo starts landing on the grass. SMELL: As far as smell goes, there is none, it's too cold for that, all pee pee is turning to ice in the bottom tray and I just discard the p'ice.

I can’t recommend this enough for those who live in snowy areas and struggle to get your dogs to potty outside easily. It has been a life saver and game changer! He wouldn’t potty on it at first, but I got the idea to scoop up his own blend of yellow snow into a poop bag and disperse it onto the mat. It worked like a charm and he went on it the next time instantly! I praised him so enthusiastically that he too got super excited and hopped around and has no issue at all peeing on it now. I even added a pee guard of my own out of a clear poster board because as you see in the video, he tends to gravitate towards the bars lol. Seriously though, if you are on the fence, go for it! It was SO worth it! Btw, I went with the XXL - 41”x27" for reference. Just wanted to give the lil man more room to circle before pottying on it. 😂

This product arrived on time and the quality was very good. It looked just like the pictures. I was very pleased! I bought it for my dog, Hazel, who mostly stays indoors. Hazel is a dachshund chihuahua terrier mix, medium sized. She became potty trained with this device quite quickly! I would bus her to the potty trainer every time I noticed her doing "circles" and getting ready to relieve. Afterwards I would give her a treat. (I recommend having treats nearby for potty training purposes). In approximately 2 weeks, she became fully potty trained and rarely made any mistakes. I've heard of other methods, owners adding dirt to the synthetic grass or spraying it with a training spray to train them. For me, busing/carrying my dog to the desired area and giving her treats consistently was enough. Try whatever works best for you and your dog! what I love: the puppy potty trainer is very efficient and the material is very sturdy (also non-toxic)! It helped me train my puppy in 2 weeks. It's a perfect size for my dog. I highly recommend this for small to medium sized breeds. It's space efficient, if you have a small apartment or room then this puppy potty trainer is perfect for you. It's very easy to clean and transport (if you have to travel somewhere). I have made some changes, I got rid of the synthetic grass and use training pads on top of the tray for easier clean up. I've been doing it for a year now and it works for Hazel. What I disliked: the synthetic grass, like its name says, it's plastic and it tends to absorb the odor of urine quite easily. If you don't wash it often, it'll smell quite overwhelming and stink your room or apartment. Also, washing it is a nightmare! You have to wash the synthetic grass and 2 trays outdoors with a hose in order to remove urine and traces of feces, then leave it upside down to dry/air out for a while before placing it indoors. After 4 months, I got rid of the grass and instead use training pads on top of the tray. It's easier to clean and maintain now and Hazel likes it! The smell of the synthetic grass mixed with urine just didn't work for me. I would recommend washing it often (every day or 2 days) with soap and water, and using a urine control odor spray. Also, the middle tray tends to slip a little, to prevent that I recommend placing a training pad in between. For these 2 reasons I give this product a rating of 4/5. Overall, I love this product and highly recommend to people who live indoors or have limited space. What I recommend: the tray in the middle tends to slip, so add a training pad in between. And wash the synthetic grass often, (every 2 days) or replace it with training pads as needed. I buy Hazel's training pads at Ross Dress For less and DD's, they are retail stores that also sell dog products for a cheap price. 50 pack = $9.99 and lasts 2+ months. 100 pack = $19.99 and lasts 4+ months

We temporarily live on the 17th story of a hotel in NYC so taking our 3 month old puppy outside every few hours was not going to work. To preface, only the puppy uses the pad, NOT our adult. She (cream) is about 6lbs and is a 3.5 month old miniature longhaired dachshund. I attached pictures of our 2 year old 15 lb mini long haired dachshund (chocolate) for size reference. We’ve been using the pad for about a month now. We keep the grass pad in the bathroom and honestly, my biggest complaint is that it smells horrible. The pee doesn’t really soak into the pad, so it sits within the grass. Every time my puppy goes potty we have to wipe her paws otherwise she tracks pee through the house. I feel like my puppy smells like pee because of it too, since wiping her paws only does so much. We have the 4-layer pad, and since the pee just sits on top, the “odor” liner does nothing. We got the smallest size, and I wish we would have gone up one size. She frequently misses the pad (which is fine) but there isn’t enough room for her to circle when she poops. It’s good for the short term to potty train her easily, but I can’t wait to get rid of it since it smells so bad. It’s fairly easy to clean (we just throw everything but the fabric odor pad in the shower to rinse it off with super hot water and some soap) but it takes forever to dry. Again, it was worth it for the short term but definitely not a long term use product.

In response to frustrated reviewers and to those considering buying this… (I’m not paid, I’m a regular customer like you). I know this is a long review, sorry, but these tips are very helpful based on my own experience. Thank you to other reviewers for helping me learn what and what not to do. This “grass” is NOT absorbent, look at the pictures in the ad. I intentionally wanted permeable, (after reading the reviews), so that I can use potty pads underneath for the ease of cleaning. Yeah I gotta buy the pads regularly, the cost of convenience, but I don’t mind cuz it’s easier than what other reviewers have stated they’ve gone through. Gotta pick my battles. I live in a 3 story apartment, so when I’m not feeling well or just not wanting to hike the stairs, I’ll have the dogs potty on the “grass” (and pads) on my patio. I replace the pads often and pick up the poo right away, (of course the poo will stick if not picked up right away. LOL ). Other reviewers have complained that their dogs won’t use this “grass” cuz their dogs “aren’t stupid and can’t be fooled.” Goodness, that’s a given. This “grass” IS a different feel, it IS fake, it DOES LOOK fake, and, yes, your dog WILL respond to it differently than they do to natural grass. This stuff is artificial… It takes patient training and time to TEACH your dog to use it. TRAINING: What I do to train… when I know my dog’s gotta go, I’ll stay nearby, encouraging it to WILLINGLY, not forcingingly, merely step on the “grass” by luring with treats and praise. I initially don’t expect my dog to stay on it long, much less potty on it. I follow up with praise and treats every time they do step on it. I’ll repeat this every time they gotta potty until the dog learns it pleases me to be on it. I won’t take them to natural grass, leaving them no choice but to eventually potty on the “grass.” If I have to, cuz the dog won’t potty on it, I’ll leave the potty area with the dog to mentally “reset” myself and the dog for a few minutes, then try again, repeating until successful. (POSITIVE ASSOCIATION is imperative)! Initially, my dog would potty next to it instead of on it, so I would KINDLY pick him up mid stream and put him on the “grass” while constantly praising him as he’s going. (They can’t stop once they start, so this works LOL). When he DOES go potty on it, even if I have to place him on it, I will give EXCESS praise as he’s going and then LOTS of treats after he’s finished. (I buy freeze-dried treats - most dogs cannot refuse liver! They make beef liver, chicken liver, pork liver, salmon, beef liver with pumpkin, etc. Freeze-dried is WAY healthier, it’s only one ingredient, so it does not upset my dog’s sensitive tummy - no stinky farts LOL. You cannot find these awesome treats at Walmart, you gotta go to a pet store, but it’s so worth it! I take the time to use scissors to break them into bit-size pieces - it’s one of my relaxing mindfulness activities). Anyway, NEVER EVER get mad or frustrated with your dog or it’ll associate being in trouble with being on the “grass” and then you’ll never have success! Repeat this process every time you want them to potty on the “grass.” Once they figure out what you want, it’ll eventually feel more “normal” to your dog. Even though my dogs have figured it out after a couple weeks, I still praise and treat every time cuz it’s NOT real grass, it’s not natural for them to potty on it. My dogs are still getting used to it, but they’re starting to use it more readily. This takes time! Be patient with them! Remember, dogs only wanna please you, so give them time to figure out what you want from them, then they’ll be more willing to do what you want. This applies to everything you want them to do - sit, stay, etc. (This even applies to children). After only a couple times of urinating on the “grass,” I’ll replace the pads, but I keep it outside. If I used this thing inside my home, I’d replace the pads every time cuz I HATE the smell of urine! Using pads replaces the work of cleaning the entire setup - that’s just too much work and it’s gross! I rarely have to clean/rinse the “grass” itself cuz it’s permeable and the pads take the brunt. My dogs won’t use the “grass” if the pads underneath are overused - I wouldn’t either if I had to pee on this thing. (Yes, the “grass” is very thin, it’s permeable)! I’ve not had trouble with the “grass” shedding or from an initial/brand new odor, not from this brand anyway. I have two different sizes cuz I had to figure out the right size. My boys are both 17 lbs, I will be buying another large size to give them more space. For large dogs, I recommend using 2-3 large “grass” setups placed next to each other like mine are - refer to my pix. Remember to keep the included plastic bottom under the pads. In my picks, I have one medium and one large setup. I keep a tightly closed trash bag inside a lidded trash can to manage the odor. I replace the trash bag when necessary. I use regular poo bags to pick up the poo. Again, I’m sorry for this long review, but I find it necessary to help you understand how to use this product properly. I spent a lot of time writing this review, BTW, to make sure it’s right. I hope this helps. Enjoy the convenience.

I really, really wanted to like this. We’re struggling with our puppy (we live on the 25th floor and can take 15 minutes to get down to a patch of grass), and I so wanted this to be a solution for us. First: the grass is cheap and falls apart easily. It shed quite a bit of grass right as we took it out of the box. The mat is woven, and weave was even falling apart (entire strings came off). If your puppy is like mine - she loves strings! - she’ll quickly learn that it’s fun to pull apart. Not safe: It did “work”, though - my puppy went right up to it and peed on it. We put a puppy pad in the tray to make clean up easier. But then she started digging and biting at the grass. Since it isn’t attached in any way, she pulled it right up and started taking chunks off of it. It’s so poorly constructed that it quickly fell apart. Little pieces of grass were everywhere in seconds. My puppy ripped off large chunks (again, the weave was so loose she could easily do this) and was about to ingest large clumps of fake grass! We knew we had to watch her like a hawk anytime she was around it. I even tried taping the grass on, clipping the grass on, etc. Nothing kept it in place. Big bummer that she couldn’t use it safely without constant supervision. The smell: But we figured since we keep her in a crate while she’s not totally supervised, we could still make it work when we let her out to “go”. But guys....the smell. It starts out like “am I imagining it?” but then it became unbearable. If you keep it outside/near a window/in the sun it will get gnarly even faster. Imagine a public latrine or a porta-potty on a hot day. Then imagine that smell confined to the small space of your apartment. And magnify it for every window you have. We washed it on the *second* day we got it because we couldn’t take the smell. Washing is easy, but time consuming. The only way to get rid of the smell is bleach. You have to soak it in a tub with bleach for a few hours to get rid of the smell. This will also cause large amounts of grass to come loose. It takes another few hours, yes hours, to dry. Then you have to clean the grass out of your tub. You have to do this everyday to keep the smell at bay. We couldn’t even keep it up for one week before the grass went in the trash. I’m giving it one star for the tray it comes with. We’re still using that to put our puppy pads in. Everything else is trash!

Good product

This might be the best doggie "accessory" we've bought so far! We've had the Petmaker Puppy Potty Trainer for just over a month now, and it's proven absolutely invaluable for our 11-lb miniature poodle. We bought this potty -- as opposed to the many other potty options -- because it was the only one that would fit inside of a 48" crate and still leave room for a doggie bed and water bowl. When we're out, we can leave our dog in the crate and not have to worry about making her hold it too long. We also had a problem with our dog getting up in the middle of the night and pottying on the living room carpet, and this has completely solved that issue. TRAINING For training, when she started doing her "potty dance" late at night, we'd set her inside the crate and then physically block her in with our body (instead of closing the door), so she didn't feel locked in. The first several times, she'd wander around the crate confusedly, push at us with her nose in an attempt to get out, and then finally relieve herself on the potty. Each time, we'd give her a ton of praise and petting for using her potty. Initially, she really did NOT want to use the potty and used it only because she was trapped and had no other options, so we spent a lot of time sitting in front of the crate waiting for her to go (takes patience!), but the waiting time got a teensy bit shorter each time. After two weeks of doing this at night (we take her out during the day), she started wandering over towards the potty when she needed to go but she wouldn't actually use it unless we put her inside and waited for her to go. Now it's been a month and she just uses the potty when she needs to -- with ZERO accidents in the house! USAGE / CLEANING The Petmaker potty has a layer of faux grass that sits on top of a raised plastic drainage tray, and both of those fit inside a larger black tray. The grass and the drainage tray aren't "locked in" and could slide around if you push them, but this hasn't been an issue for our 11-lb dog. We put a potty pad underneath the drainage tray, which makes clean-up MUCH easier. Our dog uses the potty multiple times per week and we haven't had any issue with smell. We change the pads every 1-2 days and then clean the whole potty in the tub with a diluted bleach solution about once a week. Our dog has shown zero interest in chewing on the grass or the pad, but she isn't much of a chewer in general. PROS - Fits inside of a 48" crate with plenty of room for a doggie bed - Big enough for an 11-lb dog to sniff around / circle around / find the "right" spot - Faux grass layer is raised and drains quickly -- does not stay wet after use - No issue with smell when using potty pads + cleaning 1x per week - No more spills or misses (compared to potty pads alone) - NO MORE ACCIDENTS IN THE HOUSE! CONS - Grass does "shed" -- we're still finding stray strands all throughout the house - Grass takes a while to dry after cleaning -- we may buy a second one for use while the first is drying - Bottom tray is shallow -- if you're not using pads, it would be very easy to spill pee everywhere when emptying